Electric Transportation Available For Everyone!

Fully-Electric Cars

Covered in an article a week ago, hybrid cars have become popular options for consumers looking to reduce the amount they spend on oil every month. Now that hybrid electric cars, such as the Prius and the Civic Hybrid have become mainstream staples, fully-electric cars are the next iteration of consumer cars. No longer reserved for the small few or master’s degree students in engineering to learn about, many car manufacturers are beginning to produce fully electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, and the Chevy Volt. These latest innovations in the car manufacturing industry will indeed prove to be the energy efficient engine of the upcoming, “going green” era. This article will compare and contrast some of the advantages and disadvantages of fully electric, hybrid, plug in hybrid electric vehicles and gasoline powered cars.

Nissan Leaf

In 2009, Nissan unveiled its prime achievement of cutting edge, fully electric technology. With a price tag of about thirty three thousand dollars, minus tax incentives (FULLY LOADED), it seemed that Nissan was poised to rise to the top. Even though the Leaf does not use gasoline, it gets the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon! The hatchback seats five adults, and can drive for over a hundred miles on a single charge. It did succeed in trumping General Motors’ Chevy Volt, which is a newly innovated hybrid that has seemingly honed in on the market that was once dominated by the Nissan Leaf.

Chevy Volt

The Chevy Volt is another popular choice of a vehicle is the New Chevy Volt, which is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Boasting to run 35 miles on about $1.50 worth of electricity, the Volt is much cheaper than both hybrids and traditional cars in terms of energy efficiency. Although the convenient battery only holds enough charge for one 35 mile trip, the car contains a gas tank which allows for long road trips. Starting at just $31,645 (after tax credits), the Volt holds a premium over traditional cars, but as you can imagine, the savings add up if you use your car to get to and from work most of the time.

The silent running electric motors develop their torque from the moment they are activated. In other words, the motor’s full power capacity is realized almost instantaneously.

The gasoline powered part of the vehicle offers the convenience of being able to fill up their car with fuel within minutes.

While electric cars are coming to market and currently can take hours to charge as being bought in the limited numbers you should expect when a new type of vehicle comes to the market place. As the cost of lithium batteries continues to drop, electric transport will become more part of the car than the engine. As well, fully electric cars do not require most of the general maintenance associated with gas-powered cars, and you never have to go to the gas station at all.

The advantage of buying a fully electric car versus hybrid, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or a gas-powered car is fully dependant on the buyer’s needs and concerns, as well as their financial perspective.

The perpetual mad dash for energy conservation has led society to an era where transportation no longer needs to be gas and oil dependant.

In 2012, people around the world will have exponentially more choices of fully electric vehicles to choose from and frankly this is only the beginning..